1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a nail clipper and, more particularly, is concerned with a nail clipping and catching implement employing a conventional nail clipper fitted with a collector assembly having a collector assembly which surrounds the forward end portion of the nail clipper for catching and retaining severed or clipped nail fragments.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A conventional nail clipper typically includes a pair of upper and lower spring members being rigidly fastened together at their rear ends and respectively having cutting edges on their front ends which project toward but are spaced from one another. The nail clipper also typically includes a pin extending transversely between and through the spring members immediately rearwardly of their front cutting edges and a cam lever having a forward end inserted and captured under a hook-shaped upper end of the pin protruding above the upper spring member. The cam lever is pivotally retained between the hook-shaped upper end of the pin and the upper surface of the upper spring member. By depressing the cam lever toward the upper spring member, the front ends of the upper and lower spring members and thus the cutting edges thereon are forced toward one another so as to sever an end fragment from a fingernail or toenail placed between the cutting edges of the members.
Upon being cut, the nail fragment typically is ejected rearwardly from the cutting edges and toward the aforementioned pin. The nail fragment frequently hits the pin and ricochets therefrom, scattering from the nail clipper in an unpredictable direction which makes finding and retrieving the nail fragment difficult. As a result, various designs of devices to catch and retain nail fragments at the site of the nail clipper for disposal later have appeared in the prior patent art.
Representative examples of such designs are the ones disclosed in U.S. patents to Lee (U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,475), Grassi (U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,090), Goench (U.S. Pat. No. 5,010,644) and Wagner (U.S. Pat. No. 5,074,041). These designs all have several important drawbacks. The Lee, Goench and Wagner patents propose locating the nail fragment catching receptacle in the limited space between the upper and lower spring members. This drastically limits the holding capacity of the receptacle. The Grassi patent does extend the receptacle to below the lower spring member. However, all designs of these patents requires the introduction of major changes in the constructions of the basic components of the nail clipper which likely makes them too expensive to warrant adoption.
Consequently, a need still exists for a suitable device of relatively low cost for effectively catching and retaining clipped nail fragments.